National Education Commission to Expand Proportion of Modern and Contemporary History in Middle School to 30%

Majority Support Driven by Pakjae High School Baseball Team Incident
National Education Commission Chair: "Proper History Education Is Essential"

The National Education Commission is working on a plan to increase the proportion of modern and contemporary history in middle school history classes from the current 20% to 30%.

Cha Jeongin, Chairman of the National Education Committee, is speaking at the 7th meeting of the National Education Committee 2026 held on the 16th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 16th, at its 7th meeting held at the Government Seoul Office, the commission re-examined the “2022 Revised Curriculum Amendments for Middle and High School History Subjects,” as requested by the Ministry of Education, and reached this decision.

During the meeting, a vote by standing committee members resulted in 13 votes in favor, 4 against, and 2 abstentions for the proposal to expand the proportion of modern and contemporary history from 20% to 30%. The National Education Commission’s monitoring group also reported a majority in support.

Going forward, the National Education Commission will proceed with the review and approval process for establishing or revising the national curriculum. Once the plan for establishing or revising the national curriculum is approved, starting in 2030, the proportion of modern and contemporary history in middle school history classes will increase from the current 20% to 30%.

The commission had previously discussed the relevant measures at its 6th meeting but deferred a decision at that time.

Previously, the Ministry of Education submitted a request including: ▲ expanding the proportion of modern and contemporary history in middle school history classes to 30%; ▲ ensuring adequate instructional hours for the middle school social studies curriculum (social studies, history, and ethics), with schools given the flexibility to expand history instruction to 204 hours or more; and ▲ introducing a new high school elective subject focused on critical evaluation and analysis of historical content.

Standing committee members who supported the plan cited incidents such as the Pakjae High School baseball team’s mocking cheers involving Starbucks, stating the importance of improving students’ understanding of modern and contemporary history.

Jaengin Cha, Chairperson of the National Education Commission, said, “Recently, there has been social controversy caused by distorted historical perceptions that have led to ridicule and hate speech. More and more voices are calling for education that enables students to learn accurate historical facts and critically explore current social phenomena.”

Chairperson Cha added, “Not only has the issue of history become a public concern, but this adjustment should have been made from the outset. I strongly believe increasing the proportion of modern and contemporary history is necessary.”

Those opposed expressed concerns about potential confusion resulting from recurring curriculum revisions. They argued that pursuing additional revisions while the 2022 revised curriculum has not yet been fully implemented across all grades may undermine the stability of the curriculum. They also stated that even within the current system, teachers can strengthen modern and contemporary history education according to their own capabilities.

Kim Joosung, standing committee member who voted against the proposal, commented, “The 2022 revised curriculum is the result of consensus and hard work from the historical education community during the previous administration. If we make changes now for various reasons, we cannot escape criticism that these moves are political, or that history education changes with each administration.”

Regarding the creation of a new high school elective subject for critical evaluation and analysis of historical content, the commission approved a revised proposal to expand the subject to include “history and social phenomena” content evaluation and analysis, rather than following the Ministry of Education’s original plan. The commission also decided not to proceed with a separate vote on the agenda items related to securing instructional hours for the middle school social studies curriculum and increasing history instruction to more than 204 hours.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.